Articles by Peter Powell

For five months in 2013, The NEWS’ FROSTlines eNewsletter ran a series on retrofitting open display cases with doors in supermarkets. It proved to be prophetic because shortly after the series ended, closed-door display cases became a hot topic at the Food Marketing Institute Energy and Store Design Conference.

Danfoss’ periodic EnVisioneering symposia look at a wide range of HVACR issues and topics. For its most recent event this past fall in Baltimore, the focus was on refrigeration, both in terms of regulations and the latest in technology.

Danfoss’ periodic EnVisioneering symposia look at a wide range of HVACR issues and topics. For its most recent event this past fall in Baltimore, the focus was on refrigeration, both in terms of regulations and the latest in technology.

The photograph with this column was taken from the balcony of a supermarket in the Baltimore area during a tour of several stores at the Food Marketing Institute Energy and Store Development Conference. Notice the massive amount of floor space and products on display.

To me, cleanliness is extremely important, especially as to what the meat preparation area looks like after it is closed for the evening. I would hope all customers put high priority on store cleanliness and store owners do the same.

With all the talk in recent years, and even more so in recent months, regarding refrigerants like CO2 and hydrocarbons (HCs) making inroads in refrigeration equipment, the trends in the ‘R’ of HVACR are even more widespread.

Refrigeration service technicians point out the need to keep up to date with what is happening elsewhere that could affect them. So, from time to time, we like to bring readers up to date on some news items related to refrigeration regulatory and safety issues.

If you want to get some idea of where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is leaning when it comes to refrigerants, consider that EPA’s GreenChill program gave a “Best of the Best” award to a store using a transcritical CO2 system.

There is so much talk these days about new refrigeration technologies and new refrigerants that it is sometimes difficult for contractors to sort out what’s theoretical and what’s actually up and running in the field. Here’s a snapshot of some of the latest refrigerants being utilized across various projects.